The Yemeni army backed by popular forces and Ansarullah made considerable advances in Ma’rib province on Wednesday by winning back 16 strategic regions and purging terrorists from 19 others as they are now only eight kilometers away from provincial capital.

The Yemeni forces inflicted heavy casualties and losses on the terrorists in Ma'rib province as the army and popular forces are paving their way to liberate Ma'rib city.

The army and the popular forces took full control of al-Tala'a al-Hamra, Eidat al-Ra, al-Atif and al-Mashja as well as their surrounding areas.

In a relevant development on Monday, senior Yemeni officials rejected the claims by the pro-Saudi camp that a strategic region in Ma'rib province has been captured by the pro-Hadi militias.

"The Farza-9 strategic region and its military base are still in the hands of the Yemeni army and the popular forces," Ansarullah official Abdullah al-Heshami told FNA on Monday.

Al-Heshami's remarks came after the Saudi and Israeli media launched propaganda in recent days claiming that the pro-Hadi forces had taken control of Farza-9 region.

Al-Heshami reiterated that the Yemeni forces had changed their positions in Farza-9 region in a bid to evade the Saudi airstrikes on their positions, but they have returned to their positions now.

The pro-Saudi camp's media hype comes at a time when the Yemeni army and popular forces have made remarkable military gains against the Saudi and pro-Hadi militias in Ma'rib province.

On February 5, at least 104 Saudi-led forces, including 8 senior Saudi and UAE officers, were killed in Yemen's ballistic missile attack on Ma'as military base in Ma'rib province in Central Yemen.

A commander of Yemen's Ansarullah Movement confirmed the missile attack at the Ma'as military base in Ma'rib.

On February 12, the Yemeni army and popular forces shot down a Saudi spy drone in Northern Yemen.

The Yemeni forces targeted a remote-controlled unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) as it was flying over a strategic district in Midi region in Hajjah province, which lies about 130 kilometers Northwest of the capital, Sana'a, FNA reported.